Seven & i Holdings strives to quickly reopen its stores and establishments and keep them in operation even during disasters as a part of its mission to preserve community lifelines and fulfill its role as social infrastructure when disasters occur.

Assuming that safety is ensured, Seven & i Group stores strive to remain open and resume operations as soon as possible to preserve community lifelines during disasters. The headquarters also supports stores by supplying products and supporting personnel, working together with the local community to fulfill its role as social infrastructure.

In addition, Group companies are promoting the conclusion of Agreements with Local Governments for Disaster Relief Supplies and Agreements for Assisting People Who Have Difficulty Returning Home. When disasters occur, the Group provides relief supplies in response to requests from the government and municipalities, as well as providing top water, toilets, road information, and so on to those who have difficulty returning home. In addition, each of the Group's stores conducts fund-raising activities to support disaster victims.

In July 2017, three Group companies, Seven & i Holdings, Seven-Eleven Japan, and Ito-Yokado, were designated as public institutions under the Disaster Countermeasures Basic Act, and are expected to utilize the distribution networks of Group companies nationwide to promptly procure and supply relief supplies.

In addition, Ito-Yokado stores are working to raise customer awareness of disaster preparedness in cooperation with local governments even during normal times, such as by developing disaster preparedness corners, cooperating in local disaster prevention activities, and holding disaster prevention events.

Seven-Eleven Japan and Denny’s, which is managed by Seven & i Food Systems, have registered stores and restaurants in prefectures with which agreements have been executed as Disaster Support Stations. In the event of a large-scale disaster, these sites will provide tap water, restroom facilities, and information to the extent possible to persons who are unable to return to their homes.

Seven-Eleven Japan has also set up emergency phones that can be used free of charge (special public phones for use during disasters) at a portion of its stores within Tokyo’s 23 wards.

Seven & i Holdings compiles a range of information within the Group but we have also joined with business partners to develop the 7VIEW* system for providing, sharing, and utilizing disaster information more broadly. "7VIEW" is a system that displays the status of stores and distribution bases in disaster areas on a cloud map so that related divisions can grasp the situation. In addition to existing functions such as a hazard map, a disaster-related SNS display, and a weather forecast, we will enhance cooperation with the national government and research institutes and continue to evolve so that we may further contribute to rapid recovery from disasters.

In order to be able to ascertain the statuses of stores in disaster areas more precisely due to the vital nature of initial responses when disasters occur, from the fiscal year ended February 28, 2023, we have started demonstration tests in which flood sensors are installed at franchise stores, the water level information is reflected in real time on 7VIEW, and alert emails are simultaneously sent to devices belonging to these franchise stores.

For these demonstration tests, sensors are installed on store premises and the water level information is linked to 7VIEW. The aim with this is to utilize IoT to ascertain more accurate flood information.

Additionally, in February 2023, the demonstration test conducted with the Tokyo metropolitan government to coordinate and utilize water outage information was our first public-private partnership trial. This is an initiative which aims to secure water essential for supporting life by highlighting the potential contribution of our store coffee machines in identifying water outage locations amid the risk of prolonged water outages during large-scale disasters. We will continue to contribute to improving the resilience of Japan as a whole through public-private partnerships as well as through our own disaster preparedness.

Features of 7VIEW

1．Reflects various information on disaster areas on a map

2．Allows Head Office to establish current statuses in real time

3．Facilitates more exacting initial responses

4．Linked with associated app

One of the important priorities of Seven & i Holdings in the area of business continuity in emergencies is maintaining fuel supply networks in the event of a major disaster. We have established a fuel depot in Saitama Prefecture that can be used by product delivery trucks to transport emergency provisions, a first for a Japanese retailer.

The depot maintains a permanent supply of 400 kiloliters of fuel, and when a disaster occurs it can be used to deliver emergency provisions and products for up to ten days to evacuation centers in affected regions and elsewhere and to the Group stores and establishments in the Tokyo metropolitan area.